How many times do we ask ourselves if the idea or thought we had was God’s voice or not? I know I’ve asked myself this a lot. Here are a few key steps to discern if it is God speaking or not.
Are you giving God space to speak into your life?
This is critical.
If don’t spend time praying or reading God’s word, how will you know his voice? For example, if you get a call from someone you hardly know, it will be difficult to figure out if it is them or someone pretending to be them.
The same goes with God. If you are reading his word frequently, it’s a lot easier to recognize his voice. It’s hard to explain, but when you know God’s voice you can feel his love in the words, see the challenge, and you immediately understand how it lines up with God’s word.
Check God’s word
What does the Bible have to say about this direction God is pointing you?
If the Bible is clear on the topic, then, by all means, step forward, even if that step is scary. But, if the Bible speaks against it, you can know this voice is not from the Holy Spirit. If you aren’t quite sure what the Bible says on the topic, then pray and make sure to study the topic before you make a decision.
Pray
The power of prayer is incredible, it can easily help you discern the source of the voice.
However, don’t hide behind prayer. I’ve missed many opportunities because I was too busy praying in an attempt to figure out if that was actually what God wanted me to do. Don’t use prayer as an excuse to not follow God’s calling. Especially if the only risk is and awkward and embarrassing situation.
For example, if you feel God calling you to go up to a stranger and encourage, pray for, or share the gospel with them, do it before the window of opportunity closes. What’s the worst that can happen? If God isn’t behind that prompting, then the person will look at you strange and continue on in life. But, if God is leading you to this, then you could potentially play a key part in transforming their lives! How cool is that?
Let me share another example. If I handed you a box and said if you are brave enough to reach your hand into the box, you would win whatever was inside. Then I promise that there’s a 50% chance you’ll find $500 or a 50% chance you’ll find a grasshopper. Would you do it?
Sure, it would feel nasty to touch a grasshopper, but if you could win $500, why not?
Check your influencing voices
Something spoke to you. Whether it was an audible voice, a realization, or just a thought, something initiated that.
There are four sources that might cause you to think of something: God, Satan/demons, mental conditioning from the world, and your fleshly nature.
For example, several times the thought occurs to me that I should share my faith. If I already know my motives are to love the person rather than to show my “superior” intellect and prove to myself that I’m the most righteous person ever, then I can evaluate the voices.
Would God prompt that idea? Yes.
Would Satan/demons? Definitely not.
Has the sinful world conditioned me to think that way? Absolutely not.
Are my selfish, fleshly desires asking me to do this? Of course not.
Even if I don’t feel like sharing my faith, I know that if the idea occurs to me, it’s almost certainly something God is asking me to do.
Check your motivation
You have to be honest with yourself, but you can identify if you are doing something for selfish motives, rather than to glorify God and love others.
I’ve often found a selfish and godly element mixed together in my motives. When this happens I take a moment to ask myself, “what about this prompting would glorify God?” and, “What about carrying out this idea would glorify myself?”
After I’ve identified the selfish elements, I try to figure out how I can dismantle them. What can I be proactive about to make sure this idea is as Christ-focused as possible. Now, it’s okay if some part of this prompting benefits you, but if you are trying to discern whether God is behind it or not, then it helps to remove these parts of the idea so you can clearly see whether you want to do this to glorify God or yourself.
What do you think? Comment below other strategies you use to help you discern God’s voice?
